The Earned Value Method suffers from its complicated history. Introduced in
the 1960s by the Department of Defense as a method for managing projects, it
was quickly driven into disfavor by its "alphabet soup" of abbreviations and
its well intenioned, but misapplied accounting reuirements.

Nowadays things are looking up for the Earned Value Method. In 2000, the
Project Management Institute (PMI) published a revised Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) that banished the arcane
abbriviations. The institute also included 15-20 Earned Value questions on
the Project Management Profession (PMP) Certification Examination. By
simplifying the ideas of Earned Value and requiring its mastery for
certification, PMI hopes that project managers will take advantage of this
method more often.

To help you capatilize on Earned Value, we have enclosed a tutorial (written
by OAK associates) which will show you how to apply it, even to your
simplest projects. The example given in this tutorial is also found as an
example in Checkitweb. So by reading the tutorial and at the same time using
Checkitweb, you will get a good understanding of the Earned Value method and
a see a tool in action which will enable you to use the Earned Value method
on even your simplest projects.